Wednesday Inspiration!

 Remember that southwest needlepoint piece I started 26 years ago from one of my previous posts?  I loved it, but—like so many projects—life got in the way (grand babies!) It ended up tucked away, waiting for “someday.”  Well, “someday” finally arrived! I’ve made real progress—woohoo!

 All that’s left is the border. Which should only take me another 3 months!  HA  I just started on the outside border, which has 3 or 4 rows to go!  UGH

Our meeting area!

The push to pick it up again came from two wonderful ladies: Beth and Cheryl.  Every Wednesday from noon to 3 p.m., three of us—Friends of the Goodrich-Atlas Library volunteers—meet to sort through donated books for our next book sale.  I call us the Three Musketeers, and while we take our library duties seriously, we are also like to ‘play’.

Once the patron donations are sorted and placed on shelves, out come our projects: knitting, embroidery, cross stitch—anything that keeps our hands and creativity busy. 

Beth is my knitting idol. Her stitches are absolute perfection, the kind you point out to other knitters and say, “See? This is how it’s done.”  She just finished a stranded knitting sweater, which is amazing.  She also dabbles in other crafts—like the Christmas cross stitch hanging she’s working on now—and every single stitch is meticulous.

Cheryl is my cross stitch hero. Each year, she hand-stitches a tiny design for all of her family’s Christmas cards—those stitches are so small you practically need a magnifying glass!  Actually, I would need a magnifying glass. And she always has multiple cross stitch  projects going, moving between them so she never gets bored. She actually finishes them, too—an admirable skill in itself.  Look at the detail in her current project.  The bird is amazing!

Both Beth and Cheryl work on 16-18-count Aida fabric. For those who don’t stitch, that means there are 324 tiny squares in every square inch! It’s no wonder their work is so precise—it has to be.  They are both meticulous and their workmanship is beyond good!!! 

Meanwhile, I’m happily plugging away at my needlepoint, with my friends’ talent and dedication cheering me on. Just some closeups of the nine blocks.  

 One of these Wednesdays, I just might finish that 26-year-old project. And when I do, I know Beth and Cheryl will be the first to celebrate. 

 

They’ll probably be tired of looking at it and hearing me complain “I can’t see the squares!”. 

You can see I took these closeup pics before I started the borders.  And those little diamonds will also need to be finished.  

SIGH.......